


The Benevolent, The Beloved

by JupiterJoon



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: (it's the bad guy), Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, Kind of referenced poly between VMin and Reader, Magic, Minor Character Death, Multi, Royal Kim Taehyung | V, Royal Park Jimin (BTS), Soldier Jeon Jungkook, True Love, brief fight scene, kind of an eco-feminist critique of the original
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25615438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JupiterJoon/pseuds/JupiterJoon
Summary: As a child, you grew up in a world that prospered in peace. However, as you matured, the world became crueler. War was not far off, and your love, Taehyung, was in danger.
Relationships: Kim Taehyung | V/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Benevolent, The Beloved

**Author's Note:**

> This is an adaption of Maid Maleen, but I changed a lot of the plot/ending

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived two beautiful children who came from neighboring kingdoms. One prince, named Taehyung, had an inherent charm that captivated his people even as a child. His heart was gentle and his kindness abounding. Unlike his father, an old King who ruled his land in the ways of tradition. The other child of royalty in the neighboring kingdom, you, had a way of striking out in the world much as you do with swords. You handled things with a swiftness and a brash sense of courage. Your father, the distant kin of Taehyung’s father, led his kingdom with a focus on progression toward a profitable future.

Not only did the two of you frequently spend weeks in the forests and learn academics, but you also grew together. Many times, you fled to the grounds hailed as a sanctuary.  Among the trees, you both laughed, played, and hid from your duties.  It was only natural that eventually, romance would be one of the many things you also learned and practiced together. Soon after you both became of marrying age, you approached your father about your desires for Taehyung.

Throughout your childhood, many kingdoms saw a time of peace. But as everyone prospered, so did the desire for power from many kings and queens. Even sorcerers, like the Great Sorcerer of the West, were not immune to greed. The Great Sorcerer had set his sights on claiming the most prosperous kingdoms in the land, which included both your kingdoms. A courtship would solidify a strong front against the growing attack.

Your father, seeing an opportunity, elated at the idea of your courtship. Unfortunately, Taehyung’s father did not share the same enthusiasm. His stubbornness was as firm as the oak wood of his throne. He denied Taehyung’s request with the same vigor that your father approved yours.

Taehyung came to you in the woods.  Once your playground, they now became a refuge. H is soft heart swelled with sorrow, and he wept in your arms. Yours, on the other hand, hardened with resolve. You gathered your horse and made haste for Taehyung’s kingdom.

At the court, Taehyung’s father refused to enter. Still, you bent to one knee and lowered your gaze. You begged and pleaded as best you could with the King. You explained what you had to offer, what your kingdom had to offer. With a growing threat in the West, your kingdoms would be in need of an allied front soon. 

Taehyung’s father, listening from his chambers to your pleas echoing around the hall, sent a servant to refuse you. Your eyes, burning with coals of rejection, grabbed Taehyung while he remained in the court.

You presented a ring, showing it for all to see.

“This is the ring of my parents’ betrothal,” you announced. Your voice echoed throughout the large hall, drawing the attention of all those near. You stood tall with Taehyung by your side, who gasped at the sight of such an heirloom. “And it is to be worn only by my true love. No one shall be wed to me if they cannot wear this ring. That man there,” you pointed to Taehyung, “will be the only to hold this ring upon his finger.”

You declared then and there that if you were not to have him, there would be no other. Taehyung’s eyes swirled with dread yet sparkled at your decree. You smiled with a convincing air of assurance, taking his hands and gently pressing kisses to the knuckles.

Taehyung was not the only one to hear your swearing. The king was not pleased with what he heard. To be challenged in his court by something as petty as love and also to be stricken with the anxiety of the impending threat in the West, he appeared only to drag his son from the court without paying you any mind.

Taehyung clung to you, large hands gripping your garments, but his father was stronger. You could not face off with the King here in his court without threatening your kingdom as well, so you watched on as your love cried out against his father’s grasp.  The doors shut with an eerie sense of finality, leaving your earlier sense of assurance to waver at the thought of your future.

Once you headed homeward, the king took Taehyung and his best man and guard, Jungkook, and made haste to hide them in a tower, far from the threat of being won over by the likes of you.

“If you are so pleased in these woods,” the King barked, “then you shall remain there. For every year that you have thought on the child of my cousin, you will be locked in a tower so tall that the fresh air may clear your head along with your worrisome heart.”

Taehyung wailed, clinging to Jungkook as they were both led away. Jungkook, both a warrior and a childhood friend, did not weep. He constantly watched the West. He trained his men in hopes they may act without him. For Taehyung thought his father may relent, but Jungkook knew better.

From your castle, you stand with your father to watch the construction in the woods. The forest was owned by no one. It was a neutral ground that your kingdoms kept at peace for yourselves and the people. You knew not whether to act or to watch. To insight a fight in sanctuary or bid goodbye.

You rode out on your horse to the workers, pacing back and forth to inquire about the construction.

You were met only with the sad eyes of the workers, chanting “ Woe is the prince, at the mercy of his father’s nettled heart.”

“The prince?” You inquired. “What has he to do with this tower?”

“He is never to leave,” a worker replied, setting yet another stone around the foundation of the steep tower. “The prince and his most trusted are within with food and water to sustain them for as many years as you are old.”

You fell from your horse, crying and weeping before the workers and calling out to Taehyung. Yet, to your dismay, there was no window to be seen. You could not see Taehyung within, held close by his guard, cradled and wasting away with heartache and loss.

“What madman,” you cried out. “Has he no sense? Nothing but terror lies around our kingdoms, yet he hides his only heir and the second in command.”

You stood and mounted your horse once more. With a great shout, you addressed the servants of the mad King. “Listen here. A sorcerer comes from the West. He will lay waste to your kingdoms. Tell your King to lay aside his stubbornness for the sake of his people, or you shall be met with ruin, for my kingdom cannot help you.”

The workers paused their building, sharing uneasy glances at the warning. Alas, they had to continue. You were but the child of another king with other wants. As you returned to the kingdom, darkness blew in. It settled over the forest and clouded the tower as well as the hopes of the people in Taehyung’s kingdom.

\--

In your own way, you mourned. You spent hours in the highest window of the castle, sending prayers and longing to the tower that now stood over the forest the two of you once made your own. Now, it felt dark. Children stayed away, fearing proximity might provide them the same fate. Fairies, starving without children’s laughter, began to migrate from the forest. Even the animals, sensing the encroaching danger from the west, began to flee.

Even more troublesome, the day the King confined his only son, Taehyung, and his greatest warrior, Jungkook to the tower, a darkness descended upon his kingdom. The people became disheartened without the kindness of their prince. Tremors of unease ran through the kingdom at the loss of Jungkook. Yet the King, steadfast in his resolve, never once spoke of the tower or his son once the punishment was inflicted. There was not even an ounce of longing he felt at the loss, though the people may mourn. He would retrieve his son and his best warrior in time, and see the future of his Kingdom as he knew it was fit to be.

Though you and your father had been scorned, you were not the only ones burned by the King’s unwilling and uncompromising countenance. In the far West, the Great Sorcerer consumed with rage and greed began his newest and greatest attack with his sights set on the kingdom of Taehyung’s father first. While the King saw his beliefs as a fortitude for preserving his Kingdom, the sorcerer knew them for what they were. His claim to traditional battle and the governing of his people, atop his loss of his heir and greatest warrior, made his land an easy target.

“Lay waste,” ordered the sorcerer, “to the man whose resolve is so hardened that he cannot see through it.”

The Great Sorcerer sought to claim everything in his path along the way, including your home. Your kingdom was soon met with war, and you were drawn from the tower. Numbed with the pain of heartache, you marred the enemy on the battlefield. You fought hard, making a name for yourself. Your sword, a symbol of your resolve, became a weapon of your rage. Many nights you did not remember, only hoping to return home to the castle to stare at the prison of your beloved.

Yet as years went by, you found yourself forgetting. Your time at war grew longer, your head filled with the responsibilities of a leader as your father grew old. Your tally of the years until Taehyung was released became unchecked.

\--

Within the tower walls, Taehyung and Jungkook only grew more distraught. The food supplies dwindled. The ground rocked beneath them with war, yet not a sound made its way in. Jungkook suffered from the guilt of leaving his men while knowing something must have befallen his home, which he’d sworn to protect. Taehyung was stricken with his own weak heart, unable to care for his people or love you.

“Alas, perhaps my father is right,” Taehyung cried, clutching his slim wrists. “A soft heart is a weak heart, and I have easily been trampled by the guilt of time.”

“Young lord,” Jungkook calls, fumbling for his prince in the darkness. “Stay strong. Your softness has a strength in its own way, and your people long for the day you return and rule them with your care and charm.”

\--

During the seventh year of the war, Taehyung’s father sought you out. The sorcerer, no match for the united front of your kingdom, had changed tactics. 

He had pulverized the forest that had been your refuge. Only the tower which held Taehyung and his servant stood in the ruins. It stood like a gravestone. Without windows or a known purpose to the Great Sorcerer, he found it useless. 

The king sent for you, asking for relief. Finally, your chance came. You answered his call, demanding the release of your love as a sign of peace and unity in exchange for aiding his kingdom.

The king, set in his ways, refused your compromise. To accept would be to admit his fault. He did not wish to go back on his word or admit his wrongdoings by locking his only heir away.

You both stood your ground as the war waged on. The negotiations, the trading of horse feet across the trampled forest, took too long. The Great Sorcerer descended upon Taehyung’s kingdom, wreaking havoc. Not many escaped. Those who could not flee met their end. And soon enough, so did Taehyung’s father. The castle of a once flourishing kingdom burned so brightly that your father watched from the window.

Still, the tower stood, unmoving, silent.

You and your father wept for the foolish king and his people. After all, they were of kin. Still, the Great Sorcerer moved on. With no time to waste, you sought to aid the other kingdoms further East. The Sorcerer demonstrated what he could do to a kingdom too weak. 

You set out, but soon after, the Sorcerer’s wizards came to you while on your long trek. They appeared in a cloud of smoke, smelling of death and demise.

“Dear heir to the throne of a kingdom most formidable,” one of the old, crotchety wizards spoke. “We wish to make a deal.”

“What, dare I ask, may you request of me after the years you spent squandering my home?” you spat, readying your horse for battle.

However, the wizards merely cackled. The sound ricocheted about the open field you rode through. Though it may frighten some, you felt nothing but disdain. You’d grown accustomed to their tricks on the battlefield. “Our Lord has a son. He wishes to marry. Together, we will rule the kingdoms.”

“Power above all is not for me,” you countered. “I simply wish to see my people and our lands thrive.”

“Without the marriage,” the other wizard threatened, “ you will see neither. We can continue to fight, you see. Though you have held us off, our efforts have not lessened. Your troops grow weary. You may seek aid from others, but we will continue to overtake the lands. If you are to marry the son, we will find peace.”

Your head hung. You glanced around the fallen lands, torn and decimated by the sorcerer’s greed. As you surveyed the landscape, your eye caught the tower where your love remained. Everything around it was destroyed, so the tower stood as a bleak beacon of what lay ahead. After so many years, could you guarantee his survival? Taehyung, what would he wish for you to do?

Being a leader, you had to do what was best for your people. For the land.

“Alas, I concede to your queries. May we wed and end this bloodshed. You may tred no farther from where your boot lays now. Bring the son of the sorcerer to me, and we shall wed.”

In a cloud of wicked smiles, the wizards vanish. You trot back home, passing the tower where your love had remained for 12 years.

“Dear love, my Taehyung,” you cried. “Forgive me. I could not save you, or your home, but I must do what I can to save our world. With a heart as kind as yours, I hope you understand.”

You circled the tower until nightfall, crying out to him, but still found no cracks, no windows, no way in or out. With sorrow filling your hollowed heart, you returned to your kingdom.

\--

Unbeknownst to you, Taehyung and Jungkook had begun their own plan within. As the resources dwindled, they’d strained their ears for the sound of saving. Surely, his father would not leave him here to die?

With frail hands they used but a spoon to begin digging. It took ages because even Jungkook, the strongest of warriors, had become weakened overtime in the dark tower. Over time, the mud holding together the stones had worn. They searched with shaky fingers to find the cracks and dug as they could, taking turns between rationed drinks and bread.

“My lord, freedom is upon us,” Jungkook would chant, scraping as he went. Taehyung would nod, heart aching for what might lay outside. If his father left them here to die, would he allow them home? And if he had not left him, what had become of him to come for them?

He doused the thoughts. To be abandoned, he could return to you. Surely, after these years, your love was just as strong. “Make haste, Jungkook,” Taehyung smiles weakly. “Freedom is just beyond these stones.”

Little did Taehyung know just how free they would be as the world, much like your heart, had been laid to waste around him.

* * *

You strode through your kingdom, announcing the news to your aging father. Upon hearing the agreement, he wept. Not only for the peace but for your loss. With this matrimony, you were made to truly give up the fated love you had sworn in the court of a castle now burned to the ground.

“My love, my only child,” he wept, “I raised you to seize what you wanted. I gave you a strong mind and a wicked charm. To know that you will lose your will in such a way saddens your people.”

You consoled your father as much as yourself.

\--

Jimin, the son of the sorcerer, was undoubtedly as beautiful as the both of you. He was bewitched with love and a countenance that disrupted the world around him. Constantly the center of attention, he was the relief of the people his father, the Sorcerer, conquered.

When his father was far from the palace, he drifted through the castle as a gentle breeze. His giggles and soft praises enchanted the space with a pleasant reprieve. While his father pillaged and ruled with a greedy fist, Jimin used his cleverness and his gifts to brighten the ashes and the darkness.

Despite his own gifts, Jimin lived in despair. He constantly devalued the work of his father and could not see eye to eye. He stayed in his room, trapping himself from the world his father sought to create. His cries floated through the palace like a sad song, longing for peace. Ashamed of his father and his people, Jimin pleaded for his father to end his dark magic. He was always met with deaf ears. For his father could only hear the cries of villagers and the cheers of conquering. Like Taehyung, his desperate pleas to raise the people were drowned out.

Finally, Jimin left his chambers when he received word that his father had left the blood of the battlefield to find him.

“My son, wretched and broken with a mind so soft,” his father boasted, “I have found a solution even you will approve of. The child of our most unpleasant foe has agreed to a cease-fire if your hand in marriage is offered. You must go.”

Jimin, terrified, threw himself to the bed. “Father, do you not know? Of all the kingdoms, the story of that heir and Taehyung, the child of the tower, is known. Their hearts belong to each other. How can you bequeath me to intervene? I am not like you. I cannot crush spirits and terrify the people. I only wish for peace.”

The sorcerer ripped Jimin from his bed. “Look here, child. You will do as you are asked. I pity your sensitive soul, but I have found a way to manage it. You will go to their kingdom and claim your place on the throne, and aid me in the conquering all the eye sees.”

Jimin wailed. The light sparkling in his large, puffy eyes faded. The plushness of his lips dulled as he found it unbearable to smile.

\--

Little did Jimin know what a role he would play. Because in this time, Taehyung and Jungkook had escaped from their tower. Within three years of spooning at the walls, they managed to escape. With suspicion, they emerged from the small tunnel they dug.

All around them, the forest stood in ashes. As Taehyung and Jungkook looked to their home, they saw nothing but rubble. Jungkook fell to the ground, distraught. Taehyung turned to your Kingdom and wept for joy. Alas, your home still stood.

And yet, there was a barrier of sorts. Troops of strange creatures and men stood around the land once known as sanctuary. Taehyung had faith that if he could reach you, he and Jungkook would be safe from whatever they came upon.

“Make haste!” Taehyung called, brittle limbs tugging at his guard. “We know not the adversary, but my love still remains. We will be protected within the castle walls of my kin. But you must help me, we must aid each other.”

Jungkook gazed into the hollow face of the only citizen he had left to protect, the young lord. He gathered himself and strategized.

They picked their way through small towns in an attempt to bypass the war surrounding your castle. At each new home, they begged for shelter or food. But the people were not the same that Taehyung left. Their hearts were not open nor did his charms bring them joy. Rather, they were met with suspicion and fear. Many begged them for mercy and to pass on, as though they came to attack. For the two did not know how the wizards tricked the people into giving up their homes, their children, the only goods they owned.

They spent their nights sleeping in the forests. The animals that remained in the few lush green trees welcomed them, able to sense their good nature. “How funny, that we end up in a forest once more,” Taehyung said.

“Yes,” Jungkook agreed. “That we may return to where we were trapped every night, the one place we wished to be freed from.”

“No,” Taehyung said. “The forest has always been my home, yet to be forced here is to only burden it, but not null the kindness it has shown me. It was here that my love and I grew similar to the saplings around us. It has always been my sanctuary, no matter the kingdom the land may belong to.”

Taehyung then knelt close to the ground and found nettles. Though tough, they were known to be edible at the time. “My lord,” Jungkook consoled. “Can you stomach such a thing?”

Taehyung nodded, tearing a branch for himself and offering another to his loyal servant. 

“How funny,” he mused, “that I may now look to these small nettles for nourishment after I have heard the people call my father’s heart one filled with nettles.”

“You are not your father,” Jungkook declared. “Nor will you become him. Come, see how as we chew, the touch nettles dull. We eat them, and they give us sustenance. They are not as they say of your father’s heart. They are what we need, as your people need you.”

Taehyung lets out a sad little laugh. “My people needed me, and I left. I can only hope that my love may be there for them now.”

And that you were. Even at that moment, you tended to the refugees in your kingdom, staring out at the tower, unaware that its occupants were trekking far from your home.

One day, Jungkook and Taehyung found themselves in better lands. Though the people remained watchful of the raggedy strangers, they had strong homes and hearty faces. Jungkook searched high and low, only to find terrible news.

“My lord,” Jungkook said to Taehyung in the forest. “We are in the home of The Great Sorcerer, the one who destroyed our home and plagues your love.”

Taehyung held strong in the face of the news, too sickly to waste tears. “What does this mean? Will they come for us?”

Jungkook shook his head. “They believe us to be dead. Not many beyond our courts knew that we were in the tower. I believe we must disguise ourselves and enter the Great Sorcerer’s courts.”

“Why?” Taehyung gasped. To enter the home of his enemy as a lost heir seemed like a troubling idea.

“We will be safe, my lord,” Jungkook says. “It pains me to see you as a servant, but you have always been a servant to the hearts of your people. For now, we need food. We need to be safe. I hear the heir here is not as his father. He brings light to his people, much like you.”

Taehyung hung his head, but he knew what they must do to survive. Following Jungkook, he follows him into the castle kitchens to ask for work.

Seeing Jungkook’s physique, the chef quickly enlists him. But upon seeing Taehyung’s delicate form, he hesitates.

“Please,” Taehyung begs. “I am a kind and good listener. I could be of use to your heir as a calming presence.”

The chef called in the head maid who agreed. Thus, Taehyung and Jungkook found themselves in the court working for the enemy.

Despite the trials and tribulations, Taehyung never lost his kind heart. Though he spent his days cleaning a palace similar to one he used to call home, he lightened the spirits of those around him. While Jungkook continued to gain favor and food in the kitchen, Taehyung quickly rose from a simple cleaning maid to part of the prince’s chambermaids.

Taehyung never saw much of the prince. Frequently, he heard his soothing laugh or the sound of his cries. Even when crying he sounded beautiful. Taehyung asked why the prince cried so often.

“The prince is remiss because he is betrothed to the enemy,” a maid once told him in a hushed voice. “It will hopefully bring some kind of peace. He does not share in the tyranny of his father. He is but a poor soul trapped in this castle like the rest of us.”

Taehyung was saddened by the prince’s story. He had seen first hand what his father had done, and he knew what it was like to not see through the eyes of one’s father. He did his best to fulfill his duties well if not to ease and share comradery with the other prince.

One day, Jungkook came to Taehyung.

“The prince is leaving the castle for his wedding,” he said. “We must join their party in hopes of finding freedom in the new lands.”

Taehyung was not sure how to secure a place in the wedding party. Jungkook, with his exceptional physical skills, easily joined the accompaniment. For Taehyung, he did not know what he could offer.

However, he need not try hard. Upon seeing how distressed the prince was, the head maid called for Taehyung.

“I have seen the ease and spirit you provide those around you,” she said. “Please, you must accompany our young prince. He is forlorn, and if he continues, he will be in no shape to marry.”

Taehyung quickly agreed. He went to Jungkook that night. “My weak heart may have caused us misery, but in this kingdom, my mindfulness has brought us relief. I will comfort the prince, and hopefully, we may find our own peace in this new kingdom.”

* * *

The day before Taehyung and Jungkook set out for your kingdom, Taehyung met Jimin. He was led by the head maid up a lofty, winding staircase to a royal chamber held aloft above the town it overlooked. The room was modest in size and detailing, maybe because the space itself seemed captivated by the man who stayed within.

Taehyung was immediately taken by how beautiful the man was. As his father was an evil Sorcerer, he assumed Jimin’s countenance would be wicked despite the melodic sounds of his disheartened cries. Yet, the man who sat before him in the prince’s chamber was fair of skin, with gently tousled hair and delicate limbs.

As he stood to greet Taehyung, it was as though he danced across the floor to him. The man carried such an innate sense of beauty that filled the space. Despite the modest decorum, the place seemed filled with an air of grace and complexity simply by the young prince Jimin’s presence. Stunned, Taehyung could only stand as the man beckoned him to the bedside.

“Dear servant,” Jimin whispered once Taehyung sat opposite him. “I hear that you have a gift.”

Taehyung smiled sadly. He could tell from the prince’s hunched posture that something weighed heavily on him. “It is not a gift but the wisdom from experience. I simply feel for those around me and can lend a sympathetic ear.”

Jimin slackened at Taehyung's words. His large eyes swirled with relief at finding a confidant. “I do not want this wedding, but I want peace. I fear that the person I marry will forever loathe me, as I am but a tool of my father. The heir is already in love with someone else, and I am to take the chance of ever reuniting away from them.”

“If you are worried, please speak with me,” Taehyung encouraged. “I can provide a silent ear, only to listen and console.”

Jimin took Taehyung’s hand. The man’s hands were much smaller than his, yet they held him so tightly. “I do not know what is right. I do not think there is a right. I, like everyone, am at the mercy of my father. I weep that this kingdom may now also be at his mercy by wedding me. Their leader is confident and courageous, and it is well known through all the land that even though their love has been lost, long-imprisoned, that their heart still belongs to the man of the tower.”

A cold fell over Taehyung as he listened to the man divulge his worries. He promised a silent ear, but he had to know. He had to know if fate strung a chord so cruel to him. “The man in the tower?”

Jimin perked up at that. His concerns seemed to dwindle at the chance to tell the old tale. “Do you not know? It is the saddest of love stories. Two heirs loved each other very much, and even though their kingdoms could have benefitted from their matrimony, the King locked up his son, the most beautiful prince in all the land, if only to keep them apart. The other kept watch over the tower, even through all these years of war. Their heart is as strong as their sword. That is who I am to marry.”

Taehyung could not bear the twist of fate. And yet, after the whisperings in the castle of the misfortune these last few years and knowing what had happened to his own kingdom, he could not fault you. He knew that you must protect your people and do what is best for not only your kingdom but the others. He wept before the prince. It was not a small cry but carried with it heavy sobs and distress. Jimin, panicked, reached for his servant, Taehyung. “My dear servant, why do you cry?”

Taehyung considered for a moment. He had only known the prince personally a short time, but he felt as though he could trust him with his secret. “Dear Prince, you say you are not like your father. I have heard how kind you are, that you bring joy to your people. I trust that you and I are the same. I am the son of that tower. I am the beloved of who you are to marry.”

At this, Jimin only wept harder in sympathy for his servant, or now as he knew him, the fellow prince. “Oh, what is my fate, that I may stand between the love of two kingdoms which my father sets out to destroy? That a prince may find himself the servant of his enemy? Please forgive me.”

“I forgive you,” Taehyung said. And truly, he meant it. “I only wish that you let me stay by your side so that I may also stay close to my love.”

An idea sprung upon Jimin at that. The inkling of a way to lead both the men to a hopeful future quickly formulated in his mind. “Please, if you may, please marry in my place. I cannot stand to be part of my father’s tactics. In this way, you can be with your loved one. But my father must never know. You must be Jimin, son of the Great Sorcerer.”

Taehyung was shocked. He knew not what to do at this suggestion. To lie to you was wrong, but to protect both Jimin and you stood paramount. “Yes, please, my prince. I will go in your place.”

Jimin beamed. He took Taehyung’s hands in his once more. “You will be married to your fated love, and I will ensure peace, for now, in the land. Remember, my father must never know, nor your prince for now. For if our scheme is to be revealed, we may all be in danger.”

Taehyung understood. He agreed with the young, beautiful prince, and quickly made haste to his own servant hiding among the kitchen staff.

The plan did not bode well with Jungkook. Seeking only to protect his prince, he was weary of Jimin. He was still the son of the enemy.

Yet, on the long journey to your kingdom, through the very lands that Taehyung and Jungkook had begged for shelter, Jungkook was introduced to Jimin’s kind nature. As often as he heard the curses of the Great Sorcerer, he heard of the gentleness of his son who matched him in no way other than blood. Upon meeting the young prince the next morning, he did find that Jimin and Taehyung’s presence resonated with each other. The man, unlike his evil father, truly sought to find peace for the people and now for Taehyung.

As they made the journey to your kingdom, Jungkook still watched for The Great Sorcerer. Under the guise of a kitchen assistant, he kept his ears peeled to gossip in the towns the wedding party stopped in. For the plan to work, the Sorcerer could never know.

Upon arriving at your kingdom, Jungkook and Taehyung awed at how you had managed to keep the place intact. The townspeople were fearful yet prospered. The guards lined the streets, yet they remained safe and the city habitable. Taehyung swelled with pride at how you had led your people in these times.

“Your beloved is a great warrior and leader,” Jimin noted. He also looked out at the people. “I only hope that the same fate may befall all once we are wed.”

Taehung nodded but said nothing. Jimin continued, “I will be veiled once we arrive. Your love may never know my true face, so there may be no need to cause a disturbance in our plan. Please, as well, do not reveal yourself just yet.”

“I wish for peace and safety above my own happiness,” Taehyung agreed. Jungkook, also, was made to be the handmaid of Jimin as well in order to have someone close.

\--

Inside your castle, you strode about filled with remorse and tension. You knew nothing of the young prince coming to you. Rumors had flitted about that he was not like his father, but you could only know once you saw him. It was easy at that time to look out any window of the castle and see the tower in the desolate forest which struggled to recover. You found yourself apologizing daily to your love for forsaking your promise.

The news came that the prince had arrived. You readied your heart and your mind to remedy the havoc that wrecked your kingdom by taking his hand.

They first made a home on the far side of your castle, settling from the long journey. You delayed the meeting as long as possible until you were called down to the courts. Standing at the doors, you inhaled deep before pushing through to meet your fate.

Alone in the court stood one man. His face was lightly veiled, forcing you to come closer. Something about him felt familiar even from the posture, despite the unusual clothes and character. 

Your feet halted as you came close enough for the prince’s face to be in view beneath the veil. The man who stood before you was ever the image of the love of your life. He may be much thinner, his visible appearance seeming fragile in a way you never would associate with a royal, but you could not shake the comparison. “My, how you look like someone I love. If I were only to see you in the street and not know your name, I would be certain you were him.”

Taehyung’s eyes welled with tears at the knowledge that after all this time, you still loved him. However, he was here as Jimin, and he needed to maintain the ruse for peace. “Then, may you love me just the same.”

“I do apologize, but I may never,” you answered honestly. The slight joy in the man’s eyes confused you, yet you outstretched your hand. “Shall we, Jimin?”

Taehyung took your hand and followed you through the castle. He tried, as much as possible, to remain quiet. Yet, as he passed through the halls, he could not feel as though he betrayed the place he once wanted to call home.

“Forgive me, walls, and do not reveal that I am not the prince he thinks, but the prince he seeks,” Taehyung whispered beneath his breath.

“What?” you ask at the whispers. As the son of a sorcerer, you were wary of the hushed noises. He might very well have been placing curses upon your kingdom.

As you stepped into the great hall, the man only shook his head with a smile. Your heart leaped at how familiar and comfortable the sight was even through the thick veil. “Nothing, I simply wish us well tomorrow.”

You thought to push it, to question some enchantment that might be placed upon Jimin to make you see your true love, but you held off for now. “Tomorrow, in this great hall, we shall be wed. I do hope that, despite your father’s trickery, we may find peace through our matrimony.”

Taehyung glanced around the hall. Little had changed. “Where is your father?”

You were taken aback by the comment. Many knew not to ask of him in his sick and weakened state. You thought it a cruel remark until the tender gaze met yours beneath the veil. Strange, that this prince knows not of your father’s failing condition. “He is ill. He may be at the wedding, but soon, I will be the ruler of this kingdom.”

“Ah,” Taehyung turned away, trying to quell his tears once more. He was met with the portrait of your father. The man who had welcomed him more than his own father. “Forgive me,” he pleaded, “for I may deceive your child now, but it is for the livelihood of us all. I pray you do not attend, and possibly see through our ruse with your wise eyes.”

“What say you now?” You asked as you approached the man. He turned quickly, fear laced in his features. A need to protect tugged in your heart. You took a step back. “Have you, by chance, bewitched me? I see nothing and feel nothing but the affection for the one I lost. Alas, there can be no way that you are him.”

Taehyung looked away, scared to face you. He spoke little for the rest of the time until he could return to his chamber with the real groom, Jimin.

Upon arrival, he spoke not but only collapsed on the bed where Jimin comforted him. “It’s cruel that my love knows not. I was nothing but a frightful apparition. I hope that this ends soon.”

“Soon,” Jimin assured. He, too, was pained by his denial. The trick felt all too similar to the games of his father. “Soon, you will be wed, and we will find what to do. Truly, I seek to leave my father and find him disarmed by the wedding.”

Taehyung startled at that. “You do?”

With a solemn look over the burned kingdoms he could see through the window, Jimin nodded. “I do not support him, as you know. I hope that, with our joined forces, we may find a way to defeat him.”

At that, Taehyung’s heart was relieved. “Then I will press on,” he declared, “until we may find a way to save all our people.”

Jimin said reassuringly, “Jungkook will be by your side. My people will protect me, and he will protect you until the end. I hope that your beloved may find favor in both of us, are we ever to be revealed.”

Taehyung agreed. He knew that through your compassion, you would find a way to accept them.

* * *

The wedding was the next day. As the lands were under attack, it was a small affair. As per Taehyung’s prayers, your father did not attend. For him, it was too much to see you used as a political tool, regardless of your status. Those of the court and a few of the kingdom were present, but otherwise, it was few.

Jimin had managed to trick his servants into believing he remained in his chambers out of nerves. To those reporting to his father, he sent Taehyung only in his place to quell the fear he had at becoming a groom. As expected, nevertheless, the Great Sorcerer had sent his men to attend the wedding as well. Among the townspeople sat many wizards and creatures employed by him, ready to destroy the place should the wedding fail.

Jimin and Taehyung worried that you may unfoil their plan before his people and give way to bloodshed, but Jungkook had faith. While Taehyung knew you as a trusting friend and lover, Jungkook had known you as a soldier. He knew you would remain composed were you to discover their plan.

You did not, however, notice. As you stood at your throne, you watched Taehyung, or as you knew, Jimin, walk down the aisle toward you. There were many mixed emotions that day. Some were hopeful for the end of the war. Others were concerned about what this meant in the future. The wizards wore wicked smiles all the while, and you… you felt nothing but confusion.

You knew you should be pained, but as the man in the veil drew nearer, your heart leaped with joy. A longing tugged at your very bones to meet him halfway, to sweep him off his feet and bring him to your chambers immediately. You could not still your heart as it swam between these strange feelings toward the enemy prince and your concern that you may be bewitched in some way.

As the vows began, sanctioned with various clauses for a peaceful and continued union, you devised your own plan. As you took Taehyung’s hand, you placed the ring on his finger. It was one that he had known. Your mother’s ring. You had promised the ring to Taehyung.

Taehyung did, indeed, recognize the ring. His hand wished to yank away, to not receive this gift as someone else. He wanted to shout in protest. That ring was for him, as himself. Only he could wear it.

With fear in his eyes, he watched the ring slip over his finger. You, as well, swelled with panic. The ring fit. You watched Taehyung and squinted through the veil. It was. It had to be. It had to be him. But why?

Taehyung tried to yank his hand away at the end of the vows, but you held on. You wanted him to look at you. To explain. How, how was he here? How was he receiving your hand as the son of the enemy prince?

“Forgive me,” Taehyung whispered to the ring. His voice now rung loud in your ears, no longer a familiar sound but the sweet call that stirred the heat in your heart. “Do not give me away, for I am not the true prince.”

“What?” You hissed as you both turned to face the crowd. It was almost impossible to continue the fanfare, but you knew you must. Whatever was happening now was not to be addressed before your people.

But as you and Taehyung, who you now were convinced was your Taehyung, made it down the aisle, he was immediately whisked away in the order of finishing up the last few things before the night in your chambers as your new spouse. You reached for him, protested, but yet another surprise belied you. Jungkook, the lost warrior of your cousin’s kingdom, grabbed Taehyung from you. His face was turned, but you knew it for sure.

You went to your chambers where the prince should have joined you and paced. Your mind scattered through what you knew. You had never seen the prince. You had never seen anyone leave the tower. Could they somehow have switched?

Before you could finish speaking, a servant entered the chambers. He spoke softly, “I see that you are troubled. May I fetch you something?”

“Please,” you said. You sank to your bed, confused. “Anything to soothe my mind.”

“Are you troubled?” the servant asked. You felt irked at the comment.

“That is nothing for you to know of,” you snap, but immediately recoil. Since the war and the loss of Taehyung, your mood had deteriorated. You tried your hardest to remain kind, but without Taehyung’s guiding hand, it had been a struggle.

But, Taehyung was there, was he not?

A knock came at the door. You stood, ready to send out the servant, but the door opened before you could. Someone you did not know stood before you. He was short of stature, but he shined with a beautiful countenance that you could not comprehend. Again, you find yourself concerned that the Great Sorcerer had casted a hex over you.

It was Jimin.

“May I ask how you made it here?” You ask hesitantly.

“I am here because I am the son of the Great Sorcerer,” Jimin announced.

“But you…” you shook your head. “You are not who was at the altar. I know, for the ring…”

“I know,” Jimin said.

Because when Taehyung was whisked away, he had been taken to the prince’s chambers. Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung fretted over what to do. They had not planned for you to pull such a maneuver.

Taehyung cried out, trying to tug the ring from his finger. “Jimin,” he cried. “It will not budge. The ring knows who I am. We have been had. Now we are all in danger if the truth is to be revealed.”

Jimin knew only that the truth could save you all. Jungkook had led him to your room immediately.

“You see,” Jimin held his bare hand to you. “I am the son of the Sorcerer, but I am not who you married. Your love escaped his prison and ended up in my service. We sought only to bring peace and reunite our kingdoms. For you to know would have been a danger.”

You stepped forward to question, but the servant in the room screeched. You winced, and Jimin stepped forward immediately. The servant, actually a wizard, spun in a smokey cloud.

“To be fooled by his own son,” the wizard screeched as he grew into a terrifying creature with wings. “The lord will be unforgiving. Darkness will befall the land, your kingdom, and the wretched soul you love.”

“No!” You cried, shoving passed Jimin. Only moments later, the two of you heard a shrill cry echo through the air. As you stormed out of the castle, you were met with an injured Jungkook clinging to the Great Sorcerer himself as he lifted the man into the sky by his neck. Without the veil, you saw your love clearly now, pained and reaching for you. The gold ring gleamed on his finger as the last sunlight was shrouded in a thick layer of clouds.

“My useless heir!” The Sorcerer bellowed as he rose into the sky. You ran to Jungkook, taking his sword, and threw it toward the Sorcerer. It missed, and the evil man cackled as he shook Taehyung in his large fists. “For you to conspire against me, I will have your head after his! The son of my foe who evades me no more. Your kingdom will truly be mine once I crush you on the ground.”

“No!” You cried out, reaching for JUngkook’s sword again. But a gentle hand stopped you. You barely felt its presence against the rage and fear that soared in your veins. But you turned and found a distraught yet determined Jimin clinging to you.

“That man is not my father,” he mumbled, eyeing the distracted beast in the sky. “It is merely a figment, another of his many tricks. A true coward though he claims me to be so. He is nearby, casting his wicked spells.

You racked your brain with the new information. And then it clicked. As soon as Jimin had divulged the truth, Taehyung had been taken. The servant in the room. With no other options but to doubt Jimin’s goodwill, you dashed back into the castle.

“Ha!” The could-be sorcerer jeers. “Your leader is not so strong, now. Here, he leaves his new groom and his beloved to die!”

“Not so!” You shouted back, bursting into your chambers once more. And there, crouched by the window, sat the small servant. His cackling and joyful calls were cut short at the same time as the man in the sky.

You grabbed his small frame and threw him to the wall. “What a great disappointment it is to find you so weak and cowardly.”

The small man laughed. “You cannot kill me! I cannot be touched, just as my mirage in the sky!”

“But I can kill you,” Jimin’s voice called from behind. Despite his small size, he carried Jungkook’s long sword behind him into the room.

The wizard only snorted. “Ye, my weak-minded son. You could never kill, much less your father.”

“I would have believed so,” Jimin said, “yet you would have done the same to me. You are no father of mine.”

As the small prince raised the sword above his head, you held the struggling Sorcerer. A man who had terrorized the land for years now found himself pinned to the wall, his frail body nothing for your strength.

“You would never!” The Sorcerer yelled. “You cannot! I forbid it!”

“You do not control me,” Jimin shouted. “I am not your people nor your tricks. You still, even today, hide from me as I do your bidding. Begone, you wicked man. This is how we bring peace.”

“Peace is nothing!” He shouted. “There will always be power, and the one who wields it lives in peace.”

“Then we shall give power to all,” you declared as he tried to escape, Jimin drawing closer. “To my people, to yours, to those who encounter us. We are the people, too.”

The Evil Sorcerer gives a wicked laugh. He raises his hand, darkness clouding his fists.

“Do it!” You cried, reaching for the sword in case Jimin could not kill his own father. “Do it and we’ll heal the world together!”

The broken laugh that left the Sorcerer caused you all to cringe, it’s own hex of misery in itself. “They would never accept you, son. So weak, so soft, nothing to contribute.”

At that, Jimin straightened and tightened his grip. “You are wrong. I have seen how this person leads and who they love. Taehyung is not that different from me. Unlike with you, I will find a place here.”

You nod encouragingly. The darkening mass in the Sorcerer’s palm grows, and you turn to Jimin in fear. It must be now.

Before he could conjure a wicked spell, Jimin fell the sword upon him. You turned away as the prince split his father in two. So simply. The man behind decades of wickedness and torture sank to the floor in a bloody heap.

He was dead.

Jimin sank soon after him, crying as he let go of the sword. The sound of his cries rang through the castle like a song. You went to comfort him, but he shoved you away.  As he did so, the tears that graced your hands cleared the blood there.

“Forgive me, I must be next. For it was I who could kill him, and I did not. My soft heart caused the world pain.”

You turned your hands over, then looked at the tiles where Jimin's tears landed. Flowers, small stems and buds, began to bloom in the cracks of your room.

“Jimin!” You knelt before the crying man and wiped his tears. As you did so, the blood coating your hands vanished. “Jimin, you are a gift upon yourself and unto the people. Come, we must find Taehyung and Jungkook.”

The man continued to cry, and somehow the woeful song lifted the world. The clouded misery outside evaporated.  As you walked through your halls, you watched as the croaking wizards turned to ash as the sound of Jimin’s voice hit them. Once outside in the open, setting the man on his feet, you watched as the world seemed to heal under his distress.

Taehyung ran to you and you swept him up in your arms. Your love, as he was, was finally yours again. The world brightened with the two men by your side.

“Something is happening,” Jungkook noted. He watched as starved trees grew leaves and the forest beyond suddenly began to sprout saplings. Even the people seemed to regain their hope. “The world is healing.”

Still holding Taehyung close, you reached for Jimin as Taehyung drew his guard in as well. “Jimin, the kindness and empathy for the world that you carry manifests to heal the world. And Taehyung, the kindness and joy that you brought the people has returned. With you by my side and our greatest warrior, I know together, we can heal this land. We can bring the balance back and help the kingdoms prosper once again.”

You all held each other close as the demons around you vanished and the people cheered, ready to live happily ever after and build a new tomorrow together.

~The End~

**Author's Note:**

> eheheh did anyone catch the TXT reference at the end?


End file.
